On a sad note, the left driver is messed up. After a certain volume, the left driver rattles. Sigh. Horrible.

Aside from the bad rattle, It actually sounds exactly like the Premiums. My last 990 Pros may have also been messed up because the bass was headache inducing, and these sound like the Premium DT990 250ohm, which sounded fantastic.

Actually, they sound the same as the Premiums. Just more clampy. Assuming you get one that works...the 990 Pros are absolutely the best deal in headphones, IMHO. $180-$200 gets you just FANTASTIC, energetic all rounders.

I've updated the first post. Took off the 990 Pro listing, and added details on the 990 listing, thus making all the models show up under one listing with details on the differences (like prices, comfort, etc).Edited by Mad Lust Envy - 10/30/12 at 10:20am

What are you 650 impressions. Glad to know the pros sound the same as the premiums. Now I don't have to worry about potentially missing out on BASS when I wasn't happy with the premium's bass at the time.

I get the 650 at the end of the week to the beginning of next week. I don't have high hopes of it doing well for gaming. I was close to cancelling it altogether, but they are open boxed and E-E has a 14 day return (minus shipping). Time will tell. If they don't work out, I'll probably go back to the HE-400 and stay there.

The 990 Pros were supposed to be new, but what the hell is up with QC that the driver came basically blown? AH well. I mean it sounds fine until you hit a certain volume, then it goes haywire. In any case, the bass is just ever so slightly bigger than the Premiums, though I'm sure that's due to the clamp.Edited by Mad Lust Envy - 10/30/12 at 10:27am

I'm sure they'll do just as well for gaming as many of the other mid-priced open headphones. Transient wise, they're super quick and very detailed, they don't have that much bass, so hearing footsteps should be no problem. Their soundstage is about the same size as the HE-400, but less round and more oval-- and not as layered.

The only way I can position anything based on sound is when I'm "running".

Basically trying to pinpoint based on the increase and decrease of the sound.though left and right channel as I change position.

Whenever I'm stuck in one area, it is fairly easy to sneak up on my back.

If I stay in an area, I always need to constantly keep check on my surroundings.

I just got a full sized can and a desktop amp to go with it.

Haven't tried it on games to make a comparison though. Having too much fun just listening to music.

The sound quality difference is.... staggering.

Having an open back headphone in a tropical climate is a godsend.

I haven't played ANY game since I got it set up.

Now, I can easily spend the same amount of time just listening to music compared to what I used to spend gaming.

I know exactly how you feel, regarding full-sized can + amp. Even without my headphone amp arriving yet, I've experienced the same moving experience with music vs gaming... it truly is amazing what all the small differences add up to. Before, you hear all or most of the sounds and vocals in music, but after getting a reference setup, you realize that only now are you hearing the music, that what once was a game of trying to pull apart the strands that make up the sound is now an experience of music plunking the strands of your heartstrings.

Was that hella corny and merely half-articulate? Yes. Do you get what I'm getting at? I bet you do ;)

And like I said on IEMs, the detail is there and you can probably hear directional cues pretty well. I'm willing to bet that, even with a more bassy IEM, you'd still have a clear impression that something is missing vs your full-sized can. Which can and desktop amp did you get, btw?

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Mad,

I just read a FASCINATING article. I want to share things like this in a complementary thread, like how yours works with Nameless' guide, but I'm not sure how to focus it because only some of the topics are about gaming. Mostly, it's just interesting points and mythbusting, whether related to gaming or virtual surround or not. Gamer-audiophile. The article I found is about using the iPad camera connection kit's USB to connect to an external DAC - yep, I may test it out myself - and I've had many other ideas such as comparing the Recon3D directly to Silent Cinema in A/B testing style (with Nameless' links to CMSS-3D & your link to TF2 w/ DH to complete the picture), debate on the effect of output impedance & it's effect, analysis and conclusions on selecting headphones based on usage intents and Ohm rating, explaining LODs and maxing out iPods potential, etc.

The goal is to be a participation-resource, with links to the first post (by me) of each topic on the guide-post (post #1), and my analysis paired with questions and invitations for discussion by others for a week or so before posing a new topic post. Would it be a lot of work, like a job? Yes. But, I am on anyway and want to talk about these things, without derailing your thread. As you know, I've already written a few longer posts that probably didn't belong in this thread.

Which forum do you think would be most effective for this? Do you think "Evshrug's Gamer-Audiophile Thread - Discussions, Mythbusting, and Interesting topics" would be a good title and summation for the thread? Do you think there would even be interest in this, and could you see yourself linking to a topic post instead of explaining something like impedance matching?

Been lurking this thread for quite sometime, never thought of posting cause of limited knowledge on headphones. As per Mad's suggestion, I was going to go pick up the Q701's at my job yesterday (Best Buy) as I'm looking for Gaming cans that will also be used for music (I tend to listen to music when I'm not playing an FPS/Adventure game). I listen to almost every genre (minus country), and these got good reviews from nearly everyone on this site, including Mad, which I have respect for making such a comprehensive thread.

Anyways, the co-worker that was working in the musical department turned me on to another pair of headphones and made me question my decision. Unfortunately, no ones reviewed them on this thread, was hoping you guys could help me out in determining if they're good for gaming? Or maybe someone owns a pair and can vouch for them?

They we're a bit more comfortable than the Q701's, and packed a little bit more bass as well, something I think I'd learn to appreciate while gaming. This will be my first purchase of high-end headphones so I wanna do it right.

EDIT - Just want to make it clear that I heard both of these off my phone. I really like the Q701's as well, just exploring my options, I suppose. Big purchases make me nervous.

I heard those... they have a pretty small soundstage, which won't do well for gaming, IMHO. $349 gets you some truly highly regarded headphones. Not to say the Pioneers wouldn't be good, but that's a hard price to swallow for untested headphones.

I get both headphones for around $220 with my discount. I was thinkin I should just stick to my guns and get the Q701s anyways. There's no other headphonne we sell that id be interested in besides maybe the Audio Technica 900s. But for the price difference I think ill s
tick to the Q701s.

Been lurking this thread for quite sometime, never thought of posting cause of limited knowledge on headphones. As per Mad's suggestion, I was going to go pick up the Q701's at my job yesterday (Best Buy) as I'm looking for Gaming cans that will also be used for music (I tend to listen to music when I'm not playing an FPS/Adventure game). I listen to almost every genre (minus country), and these got good reviews from nearly everyone on this site, including Mad, which I have respect for making such a comprehensive thread.

Anyways, the co-worker that was working in the musical department turned me on to another pair of headphones and made me question my decision. Unfortunately, no ones reviewed them on this thread, was hoping you guys could help me out in determining if they're good for gaming? Or maybe someone owns a pair and can vouch for them?

They we're a bit more comfortable than the Q701's, and packed a little bit more bass as well, something I think I'd learn to appreciate while gaming. This will be my first purchase of high-end headphones so I wanna do it right.

EDIT - Just want to make it clear that I heard both of these off my phone. I really like the Q701's as well, just exploring my options, I suppose. Big purchases make me nervous.

Pioneer has some smart audio engineers (and electronic engineers in general!), so I would readily believe the HDJ-200 would be a great headphone without hearing them, BUT I have and love hearing my Q701. I'm listening currently with consumer-grade amps (only slightly better than a smartphone's built-in stuff) and love my Q's for music and gaming, but I've widely read that the flagship AKG headphones' bass and treble transform in presence and sweetness with a good desktop amp. I'm hoping to experience that for myself in a week, but the Q701 is great on it's own, and scales appreciably with future upgrades to your system. If you're in the Pittsburgh area, I have an extra headband wrap I could give you, too :)

Regarding Best Buy discount: Discounts indeed are great, but don't assume that you can't get an even greater discount online. In the case of the Q701, pretty much anybody could get the "BB Discount" price on the black model: $225 shipped (no tax) from B&H, a trusted store based in New York that I have bought hundreds of dollars of camera gear from.